1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hand carts, and more particularly to a hand cart for lifting and transporting containers that may contain heavy articles.
2. Background Art
Laundry baskets used to transport clothes and the like usually consist of a generally rectangular container formed of molded plastic that have hand grip apertures in their sides or ends, or have an inverted U-shaped rim surrounding their open top end, which allow them to be grasped and lifted by a user. When loaded, and especially if the contents are wet, such baskets or containers can be quite heavy, making them difficult to move any substantial distance by hand.
Similar rectangular containers formed of molded plastic are used in trash and garbage collection for separating and storage of different categories of recyclable materials. These containers are to be loaded with materials such as plastic, glass, aluminum cans, junk mail, paper, cardboard, etc. When filled, the containers need to be moved to the pick up spot, then returned to a storage spot and filled again.
Krawczyk, U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,381 discloses multiple use hand trucks fitted with a load carrying nose plate for carrying large canvas commercial/industrial laundry bags and for normal hand truck use. The trucks have a two-wheel supported frame assembly with a nose plate projecting perpendicular thereto. A support assembly connected to the base end of the main frame assembly provides an extension projecting parallel outwardly beyond the nose plate. A generally rigid receptacle suspension frame system from which the fabric receptacle depends has a device thereon for demountably supporting the outer end of the suspension frame system and a support part on the main frame assembly demountably interfits with and carries the opposite inner end of the suspension frame system. The hand truck in several versions is convertible for use in four-wheeled as well as two-wheeled configurations.
Faraj, U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,624 discloses a cart for transporting bags, cartons and other containers of groceries or other items from the point of purchase. The cart has a support member with a top and bottom end portions and a middle portion intermediate the top and bottom end portions. A wheel is mounted on the bottom end portion of the support member and a handle is attached to the top end portion. A plurality of hooks are fixed on the middle portion of the support member for receiving handles of bags of groceries or other items and supporting the bags for transport. A foldable bracket on the middle portion of the support member below the hooks supports a container, such as a carton of soft drinks or bag of animal food.
McArthur, U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,104 discloses a mobile storage rack for trash recycling containers or bins that is a free standing vertical frame having a pair of vertical members with support hooks fixed to each vertical member in pairs at equal predetermined heights that the containers or bins are supported on. The containers or bins mount vertically above each other. The support hooks allow the bins to hang in a fashion that creates an increased access space between lower bins. The base has an axle and a pair of wheels that allows the rack fully loaded to be moved. The base also has two stabilizing legs that allows frame to be free standing and any load on support hooks is transferred to the stabilizing legs. Mounted on the opposite side of frame are two brackets that hold flat rigid material such as cardboard. The containers or bins must be lifted manually and placed one above the other on the support hooks.
Kriebel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,393 discloses a crate moving device for dragging a stack of crates which have hand grip orifices and bottom weight bearing flanges such as milk crates, egg crates, bread crates, etc. The device comprises a non-linearly shaped lever rod having an upper portion and an angularly offset lower portion with an L-shaped attachment member at the bottom thereof, a handle at the top end thereof, a rigid L-shaped stop attached to the attachment member, a hook fixed to the lever at the juncture of the upper portion and angularly offset lower portion, and a roller assembly mounted on the L-shaped attachment member comprised of a plurality of cylinders, cylinder rings, axle rings, bearings, and a stationary axle. The hook is inserted into a handle orifice of a bottom most one of a stack of crates, the roller is slid toward crate until the L-shaped stop engages the proximal crate side. Downward pressure exerted on the handle to cause the bottom edge of the proximal side of the crate to be lifted off the floor surface while the bottom edge of the distal side remains in contact with the floor surface. The crate stack is then tilted away from the device and grasped by the user at the top most crate to keep the crate stack from toppling. The crate stack is moved by simultaneously rolling and dragging the crate stack over floor surface with the bottom edge of the distal side of the stack engaged on the floor surface. The area of the bottom most crate dragged across the floor is reduced to a single edge and a portion of the crate stack's weight is supported by the roller of the crate moving device.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a hand cart for lifting and transporting containers that have hand grip apertures or handles in their sides or ends, or have an inverted U-shaped rim surrounding an open top end. The cart has a base with wheels rotatably mounted at respective laterally opposed ends thereof. An elongate telescoping handle secured to the base extends vertically upward therefrom and has a handgrip mounted on the top end thereof. A J-shaped hook mounted on the handle is adjustably positionable along the length of the handle and releasably connected thereto at selected heights relative to a floor surface and has an outer facing upturned portion. The handle is pivoted forwardly and then rearwardly to releasably engage the hook with the hand grip aperture, handle or rim on a proximal side or end of the container and pivoted further rearwardly to engage the base with a lower portion of the proximal side or end of the container to raise the container off of the floor surface and transport it to a desired location.